Winter Day-Outside Play

Winter Adventure Document Part II

On Saturday I was able to get my winter transfer experience with a solid good white ride. When Sunday came the landscape was still covered in glorious snow so Ms. Arcen, Mein Volk and I walked out of the house early with the sled in search of sloped terrain. It was early and quiet in the house as I was cleaning up the kitchen and finishing a warm tea brew. The kid and dog were already outside in the cold, I could hear her laughing below the big window facing east over the sink. When I looked out this is what I saw. Mush, Mush, Mush... Of course we have been training Zoo to run fast when we give the Mush command while out on walks turning to runs or out on the trail but this was the first time that we had been able to apply the activity right out of the back door. Both child and dog have been to the snow fields before up in the mountains but we were there not sledding, just hiking. The dog looked crazy surrounded in white here in Dooleyville. Snow making constant contact(two cons back to back)with the pads of her feet sent rapid instant messages to her brain that this was really happening. Her pupils were gone, the aperture choking down to decelerate the flood of sun light photons chaotically bouncing off of the infinite white surface.

We walked on and talked in search of the first big hill in our neighborhood. Here Ms. Arcen displays the running bob sled start technique as she aims for downward speed on the snow and ice covered road.

Down the road.

Loch Dooley was iced over thick enough for these Canadian Geese to walk on.

Backwards on the DH near the lake.

Mush

Mush.

After being out for a few hours playing in our neighborhood we headed to the south end to drop off the foster puppies and on the way back we stopped at that huge hill on Parkwood Ave. This was the first time that I ever saw my kid go sled big hill style. I rode this slope once, it was fast, really fast. Zoo looks on after her alpha sister.

Pan 180degrees left and on up the hill starts the even longer and faster descent for the more advanced sledder. After riding the big beginner hill a half dozen times Ms. Arcen decided she would go on up for the bigger run. Within the hour she had her jacket off and was sweating in the sun on the cold hill. She shared her sled multiple times with kids that were there that could only afford a piece of cardboard or the plastic top of a plastic storage box that they found in their parents' garage.

Sunday was a great day.

Monday Morning Commute by Bike Observations:

I took this picture on my Monday morning commute in to the Jar. I was in the Cemetery that I cut through almost everyday but I have only seen it look like this one other time. The air was completely dry and cold. Tires rolling against the surface made a continuous soft purring sound. I had to avoid the hard frozen ice ripples on sections of the sidewalk on Lawyers, Albermarle and Central. In the neighborhood connections that take up the majority of my inbound Stay Alive the surface although frozen was smooth covered in a dust of blown snow. Just another commute by bike but a memorable one because of the winter implications. Because of the surface conditions my time in to work Monday morning was roughly ten minutes longer than the normal.